Probably just chose Free Shipping. Is it all DHL people getting theirs?

The deliveries in the USA, yes.
Have you received a track8ng number or anything yet.

EnlightenMe wrote:

Seeing how some users are already reporting their packages being delivered, I’m led to believe that there is some domestic supply on-hand of the FW3A. Otherwise, it would seem like the slow-boat from China received an engine upgrade.

Nope…. they are comijg from Hong Kong. DHL is just that fast for USA deliveries.

Mine arrived in the USA at 09:53. That is 6 hours & 59 minutes before it left Hong Kong!!

It is somewhat luck of the draw, I think. I was early on the list, and ordered quickly, but have no shipping notification as of yet. As said above, after two years, another few weeks should be expected I guess. At any rate, I am very eager to hear impressions from those that get theirs earlier.

Seeing how some users are already reporting their packages being delivered, I’m led to believe that there is some domestic supply on-hand of the FW3A. Otherwise, it would seem like the slow-boat from China received an engine upgrade.

No domestic supply. It’s just that DHL from China appears to be very fast.

Mine supposedly just got delivered. I ordered it on Friday and was supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Last night I got a text to authorize delivery without signature and I did. And now I just get a text saying it was delivered. How is this possible. Won’t know till I get home. I’m use to waiting for at least a month.

I ordered on Friday as soon as I got the email. I was around number 190 on the list. I paid for expedited shipping via DHL to California. This is about the fastest I’ve ever received anything from China. I applaud Neal’s service.

My initial impressions:

Looks beautiful and feels great in the hand. Though as expected it does not feel as secure in the hand as my white D4. This is because the D4 has slightly gritty grippier anodizing and a side switch.

Very clean looking design with no logos. The bare switch looks great.

Same length as my white aluminum Emisar D4, but slightly thinner at the head and body tube. Tailcap is about the same thickness as a D4 tailcap.

Weight including battery is 98g compared to 112g for my white Emisar D4 (NOTE: my D4 is modded to include a metal switchboot and a Lexel lighted bezel board so might be slightly different from stock weight).

Tailcap e-switch has a nice positive click.

No glue. Tailcap and front bezel can both be unscrewed by hand. No tools needed. I haven’t completely removed it yet, but it looks like changing the emitter does not require removal of a pill or driver. Instead you just unscrew the top portion of the bezel, remove the optic and have direct access to the star.

Tint appears to indeed be 5000K. I’ll likely fix that tonight on one of them via an emitter swap.

Dark Grey anodizing looks well done. Looks like the anodizing on a grey Emisar D4.

I have not tried to remove the clip. Previously I used to always remove clips, but now I sometimes keep them on to serve as antiroll devices. Given that the tailcap is not glued I expect clip removal would be easy.

The clip is not deep carry, but it has adequate spring tension and the body tube is nicely contoured around it. It is fairly easy to insert this clip into the pocket of a pair of pants.

The clip touches the body tube just before the head. The head does NOT grind against the clip when changing the battery.

Since this light uses a standard Carclo triple TIR optic, I suspect Lexel could make a nice aux bezel board for it. However, TK mentioned that there isn’t an available pin to control it so it might have to be wired in the “always on” configuration.

Kudos to the development team. Nice to see this project come together.

The clip touches the body tube just before the head. The head does grind against the clip when changing the battery.

What? The clip length is too long? This is the kind of stuff that irritates me.

WHOOPS!!!

I meant to say “does NOT grind against the head”… but somehow the “not” was accidentally left out of my post. I have corrected my previous post. It is quite obvious a lot of care was taken with the design of this light and it shows.

Here is a picture of one of my FW3As sitting next to my modded white D4:

The clip touches the body tube just before the head. The head does grind against the clip when changing the battery.

What? The clip length is too long? This is the kind of stuff that irritates me.

WHOOPS!!!

I meant to say “does NOT grind against the head”… but somehow the “not” was accidentally left out of my post. I have corrected my previous post. It is quite obvious a lot of care was taken with the design of this light and it shows.

That happens to me sometimes. The “not” will dissappear and totally change what I’m saying. Lol

I’ve always looked at the development photos carefully and noticed that the clip should not grind against the head. I was shocked to hear about yours. Kinda like them changing the color, I thought they extended the length slightly.

It is somewhat luck of the draw, I think. I was early on the list, and ordered quickly, but have no shipping notification as of yet. As said above, after two years, another few weeks should be expected I guess. At any rate, I am very eager to hear impressions from those that get theirs earlier.

I was somewhat late on the list and ordered promptly after getting the notification and await shipment confirmation yet others seemingly later than me have theirs in transit. Paypal not so consistent on the handoff or some delay between handoff to the carrier and shipment confirmation (“Unfulfilled” so I’d think not)? Perplexing, however I expect to receive it eventually.

I thought max current was set to 3 amps (it’s in the name). So why is there a difference? Is it because the 30Q has more voltage droop than the other 2 ?

The 3 in the name refers to 3 emitters. This is a direct drive, FET powered light so it’s sensitive to resistance at max output. The 30Q is a nice comprise between capacity and current. Some cells can deliver more current and some cells deliver more capacity.

I thought max current was set to 3 amps (it’s in the name). So why is there a difference? Is it because the 30Q has more voltage droop than the other 2 ?

The 3 in the name refers to 3 emitters. This is a direct drive, FET powered light so it’s sensitive to resistance at max output. The 30Q is a nice comprise between capacity and current. Some cells can deliver more current and some cells deliver more capacity.

I do not agree, the 30Q is a very high current cell, fine for that short full blast but when aimed for a “nice compromise”, it is not needed for the FW3A. A nice compromise is a cell that can handle the regulated 3A ceiling for most of the drainage of the cell with the full FET blast still impressive, a GA cell for example will achieve that and have the extra capacity on top. The full blast will not even be noticibly less compared to the top performers.

The SST-20 version, with lower voltage, will even run perfectly fine regulated and full FET on the low-drain NCR18650B.